My Desert Rose

by Kalia Lewis

  "Well, okay then, hot, you look hot." Her cheeks were now on fire, she'd never told a guy he looked hot before.

  Tariq laughed. "You really are something, do you know that?" Taking her by the waist with one arm, he pulled her into him.

  She looked up at his smouldering eyes, yeah, definitely hot, she thought.

  Lowering his head, he whispered, "I'm going to kiss you now."

  "Mmmm...Please do," she whispered back.

  When his lips landed on hers she thought she might just faint. At first the kiss started off gentle until he put his hand on her nape, giving him control of the angle and depth, pressing open her mouth until she accepted the dance of his tongue. Fervent passion quickly ignited between them and if they hadn't been dressed to meet the family, she may have just tugged him into the bedroom by his tie.

  Tariq pulled away first and put his forehead to hers. Their breathing had quickened. Pulling back his desire was almost choking him. Normally, he never had a problem with control, but with her, he felt as though he was doing a balancing act on the edge of a knife.

  Katie looked into his eyes to find that they had turned an exotic shade of black cocoa. She didn't know how to label what was going on between them, but it was definitely growing in intensity as they spent more time together. Wiping away a residue of pink blush from his mouth, she spoke with a smile. "I'd best go and retouch my lipstick. I don't want anyone to think we've been kissing."

  Tariq grinned. "No, we definitely don't want anyone to think we've been doing the prelude to funny business."

  Chuckling, she moved away and headed for her dressing room.

  ****

  Tariq had led her downstairs and into the drawing room, where they were all to meet before dinner. The heat from his hand print on her back was a reminder of how much she was now longing to return to their room and be alone with him. They were the first to arrive and she wasn't given much time to take in her surroundings amongst the gold and pale blue furnishings before Miriam bounced through the door. Dressed in a long pale green chiffon dress with delicate deeper green embroidery at the waist and neckline, she looked as fresh as a mint.

  Squealing, she grabbed Katie's hands. "You look amazing, much better than that lacy bikini number."

  Katie inwardly groaned. Did the girl have any censorship levels?

  A woman walked in behind Miriam, followed by an older version of Tariq. The woman was a little taller than Katie and classically beautiful with prominent cheek bones, almond eyes and a long graceful neck. All complemented by a sleek black-haired bob.

  Tariq was nervous. Not about how Katie would hold herself, as she was stunningly beautiful, but about his mother's knack of being able to see through him and the probability that she would work out that the marriage had been forced. If she found out it wasn't mutual and that he'd used his power and position to make Katie bend to his will, well, his life wouldn't be worth living. He took in a deep breath. "Mother, Father, I would like to introduce you to Katarina Turan el-Tayeb."

  Katie's stomach did a little somersault as Miriam moved out of the way for her mother to get a good look at her.

  "Welcome to our family, Katarina," she said warmly in a slight accent, as she gave her a little hug. Katie felt relieved at her kind greeting. There was a quiet strength about the woman that she instantly liked.

  His father playfully shooed his wife out of the way and then enveloped Katie in a big bear hug, virtually squeezing the life out of her. "Looks like our son has found a rare jewel," he said in a similar deep tone to Tariq.

  Katie smiled in appreciation. "Thank you both, but please, my family and friends call me Katie," she gushed nervously.

  "Then we insist you call us Mother and Father," they replied in unison.

  Katie paled as a spasm of pain hit her in the chest.

  Picking up on her reaction, Tariq's mother looked up at him questioningly. He shook his head slightly in answer.

  Katie felt that she had to offer an explanation rather than look ungrateful for their welcome. "I'm sorry, it's just that my parents died when I was six and I haven't called anyone Mother and Father since." This was not what she'd expected. Their immediate acceptance of her had completely thrown her off balance. Not to mention her rising guilt in deceiving them into thinking that they had a daughter-in-law who was in love with their son.

  Tariq's mother's eyes softened and she reached out and patted Katie's arm in comfort. "We understand, so you can call us Selina and Malik until you feel ready to call us Mother and Father."

  Katie's throat clogged up. Old emotions of yearning for her parents threatened to surface and spill out. Within a few minutes these people had openly offered themselves up as family. The saddest thing of all was that she was in a fake marriage. Warm fingers suddenly entwined with hers. She looked down at the hand giving her strength and support. It was Tariq's.

  A young woman entered carrying a tray of drinks, which she offered to each person in turn. Katie took one, grateful of the reprieve. It smelled of lemons.

  "What is it?" she asked Tariq quietly.

  "It's a type of aperitif made from the lemons in our grove."

  Its sharpness as it made its way down her throat made her cough a little.

  Tariq laughed. "It requires a certain palate, but Mother likes it before dinner."

  Katie noted that he didn't touch his.

  He saw her look at his glass. Leaning in, he whispered in her ear, "You'll learn."

  Selina smiled. "My son and husband don't understand my Italian heritage and love for fine wines, but they do humour me."

  Malik put an arm around his wife. "Let's just say I've spent thirty-seven years being educated on everything Italian!"

  Katie had an immediate affection for this man. He exuded power, yet he was a large gentle lion at the same time. She smiled at the obvious fondness between Malik and Selina. "Tariq never mentioned that you were Italian." Looking at Selina more closely, she could see the Romanesque qualities of her features.

  "Yes, it's where Malik found me." A small smile appeared upon her lips.

  "And where you dug your heels in and refused ten of my proposals," replied Malik reprovingly with a touch of humour.

  Selina nudged him. "Well, if you'd asked me instead of ordering me to marry you I might have said yes sooner!"

  Katie blushed. This sounded all too familiar. "I can see where you get it from Tariq," she said to him demurely, enjoying the banter.

  Tariq grinned. "Yes, I guess I found my very own wildcat wife, who knows how to dig her heels in too." Declaring her as his 'wife' out loud to others somehow made him feel good.

  Just then Thebes appeared in the doorway "Dinner is ready."

  Miriam sighed. "Looks like Hassan and Amira will be late again."

  Selina linked arms with both Katie and Miriam. "Come, let's not wait. I want to find out more about this beautiful daughter-in-law of mine."

  The dining room was elegantly decorated. Heavy red brocade curtains framed the sets of patio doors along two of the walls where the lights of the pool outside could be seen. The marble floor was adorned with a large cream and red silk rug and upon this sat a highly polished mahogany table. The seven place settings gleamed with crystal touches to match the two overhead chandeliers.

  Tariq held out a red velour chair that positioned her next to him and with her back to the door. Selina and Malik were seated at each end and Miriam chose to sit opposite Tariq.

  Relaxed banter was bouncing across the table when suddenly a breeze drifted down Katie’s neck and her hairs stood up in warning. When she'd found her parents that day there had been a presence in the house that she’d never forgotten. It was the closest thing to evil she’d ever encountered. It had climbed all over her skin, stuck to her hair and assailed her nostrils. It had taken her months to get rid of the effect of that feeling.

  That evil had just wafted into the room. Without turning, she knew Hassan and Amira had walked in. It was Selina who spoke first.
<
br />   "So glad you decided to make it, Hassan," she said sweetly.

  Katie noted how she missed off Amira's name.

  It was a woman’s voice that answered her. "We apologise for the delay, we were otherwise engaged."

  A little shrill laugh followed and Katie cringed. The room fell silent and she could feel eyes boring into her back.

  It was Tariq who spoke, "Well, don’t just stand at the door. Come and take a seat so that I can introduce you to my new bride."

  Tariq's words sent a warm thrill through her body and under the table Katie could feel his hand land on her knee, giving it a gentle squeeze.

  Amira pulled out the chair opposite Katie and next to Miriam, much to Miriam’s dislike. "I wanted to sit next to Hassan," she pouted.

  "Well, tough, you’ve got me sister dear instead," replied Amira curtly.

  At the sight of Amira, Katie drew in a sharp breath of surprise. Surely evil couldn't be that beautiful? Amira was impeccably dressed in a white silk halter-neck gown, which complemented her coffee-coloured skin. A large black-haired ringlet hung over one shoulder and the rest was curled and piled high on her head with a tiny diamond tiara at the front. Further diamonds hung from her ears and a choker sat around her delicate neck. Full lips and almond green eyes finished off the look. She reminded Katie of an exotic Egyptian princess.

  Tariq made the introductions and Katie smiled at them both. Hassan nodded his head in acknowledgement of her, but he kept his eyes averted. He wasn’t at all what she'd expected. There were similarities between him and Tariq, such as their colouring, but whereas Tariq was tall, muscular and fit, Hassan was the opposite. Round, robust and stout is how Katie would’ve described him.

  Feeling Amira's eyes on her, Katie turned from Hassan to look at her to find two green slits staring back. In Arabic, she heard her mumble, "Gold digger," under her breath, not realising that Katie was fluent in Arabic and understood her meaning.

  Tariq’s hand grasped her knee tighter, warning her not to respond.

  Katie decided not to let it bother her and to pretend that she didn’t know Arabic in case it came in useful later. What did make her uncomfortable was the tension in the air. Unspoken words, bad feelings and negative thoughts were her pet hates. It always felt as though whole conversations of truth were going on unseen in the air as pretend words were being spoken.

  Selina, who had paled considerably at Amira's rudeness, broke the tension. "Tariq tells me that you were born in Turkey, Katie."

  Katie breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, my father is originally from Syria, but he moved to Turkey, where he met my mother, who was English. I get my pale colouring from my mother’s side."

  Selina smiled. "My great grandmother was fair-skinned and blonde. She was an aristocrat from the North of England. Apparently, my great grandfather took quite a shine to her and since marriage between an English Lady and an Italian was frowned upon in those times, he abducted her from the carriage, ravished her and then they eloped. They later took over his father’s business in Italy and there they happily settled."

  Katie laughed. "The word ‘ravished’ is not used so much now."

  Selina nodded. "My great grandmother always told it with a faraway look in her eyes and a slight smile, so perhaps the ravishing was a mutual affair."

  "How did you meet Tariq?" cut in Amira.

  Here goes, she thought. Katie wished she’d asked Tariq more questions last night. "At a wedding between mutual friends," she replied wistfully, remembering Tariq as he’d caught her eye. At least that was the truth. Relaxing a little, she thought that maybe this wouldn't be too bad.

  "And how long ago was that?"

  Okay, this was bad.

  Tariq answered. "Three days ago."

  Katie blushed so red she nearly matched the curtains.

  Amira was shocked. "What? You met and married within three days?"

  Miriam sighed. "Oh, now that’s true love. It was the same for Mama and Papa, wasn’t it, Mama?"

  Selina let out a little sigh. "It was perhaps within two days. Malik proposed ten times in less than one hour of meeting me. My papa was happy about the proposal, but he wouldn’t let me leave the family home without being married and so we were married at midnight on the second day of meeting each other, amongst trees heavy with fruit. There was a full moon and Papa had lit up the whole area with lanterns. We had another wedding a few weeks later with Malik’s family."

  Katie was relieved by Selina's input and her ease about their rush into the marriage. "Oh, that sounds so romantic."

  Malik spoke from the head of the table, "It is said in my family that when the el-Tayeb men fall, they fall hard and they don’t wait for what they love. Rather, they take it and claim it as theirs. We're not known for our patience."

  "Well, we can beat you there," replied Tariq. "We married within twelve hours."

  A hush fell across the table and then Amira scoffed. "What did you do? Have an imam waiting? I mean, how do we know that you had a proper wedding at all?"

  Tariq was not fazed by the cynicism in his sister-in-law's voice, so he stared hard at her. "I took one look at Katie and knew she was going to be mine, so I kidnapped her from our friend's wedding and took her to the jet, where the imam and two witnesses were waiting." He turned away from her snake stare and looked into eyes so soft and blue. "She agreed to be my wife and I haven’t looked back since." The term of being his 'wife' was going to be fully explored later.

  Katie swallowed hard. The private message pouring from his eyes were promising her that tonight this marriage would be consummated. Gulping, she sent one straight back, 'I hope you can deliver what you're promising hot Bollywood boy'. The brown of his irises turned black. She guessed he'd received that message loud and clear.

  The mood between them was broken by the entrance of the first course. A spicy Arabic tomato soup with warm bread rolls.

  Katie was too nervous to eat, so she smeared the bread with butter and nibbled on it. Tariq's hand was still on her knee, infusing it with his warmth. It moved upwards and she nearly dropped the bread roll. It was now high on her thigh and his little finger was making circular movements on its inner part. A buzz made its way to the nub of her sensitive spot and she could feel her cheeks reddening. The thought of being alone with him later was conjuring up images of her pulling him to the bed by that tie of his and slowly stripping him of his clothes.

  The moment was interrupted by Amira's sickly sweet voice. "So, do you think you’re pregnant yet?"

  Katie choked on the bread and Tariq moved his hand from her thigh to tap her on the back. "Erm, no, not yet," she croaked. This pregnancy thing was the crux of her problem, but she shoved it aside, reminding herself that she'd agreed to have some sexual fun with Tariq and exhaust their lust, not have any children.

  Tariq answered more fully. "We’re going to spend some time getting to know each other for a while before we start a family."

  Katie was relieved. They had to keep up some form of charade for his plan to work.

  Amira pouted. "Well, that’s not what you told me when we were engaged. I think you suggested that all I would be was a brood mare."

  Engaged!

  Katie looked open-mouthed at Tariq.

  Tariq was now seriously getting pissed off at Amira's attitude. "We weren’t quite engaged, Amira. My parents asked me whether I wanted you as a bride and I told you what would be expected of our union."

  Hassan spoke for the first time, "Enough Amira, just eat your dinner."

  Amira gave Katie a cold look that said she wasn’t finished with this conversation.

  Miriam chirped up. "Can we talk about the plans for the wedding celebration at the end of the month?"

  Selina too sighed in relief. "Perhaps we can meet tomorrow morning, Katie and go over all the plans? Of course, you have the freedom to create what you want."

  Katie smiled at this warm woman. "I think at midnight in the moonlight would be just beautiful."

  Se
lina grinned. "I do believe that there is to be a full moon on that Saturday. I shall send out the invitations to close family only, just so we can keep it intimate. Is there anyone you would like to invite?"

  "Just my aunt and uncle," she answered a little sadly. "My best friend is on her month's honeymoon in Europe, so she won’t be able to make it."

  "Oh, I’m so sorry about that. We could postpone it until the next full moon?"

  Katie considered it, but then decided against it. She didn’t know where she and Tariq would stand next month. If all went well, she might be back in her little house in England. "No, it’s fine. I’m sure Annabelle will get as much joy out of the photographs."

  "Tariq tells me that you’re a professional photographer?" Malik enquired.

  "Yes, I am," she nodded in surprise. When had Tariq told his parents this piece of information? Then she remembered the cameras and the lab he’d had set up.

  "Can you take some pictures of us all together?" Miriam asked her excitedly.

  "Yes, I can," she replied smiling at her.

  The starter was then cleared away and steaming hot plates of buttered vegetables, mint potatoes and lamb in honey and apple sauce filled the table.

  Tariq took the liberty of filling a plate for Katie. As he passed her the plate, their fingertips met and a pulsating current flew down his arms, through his chest and into his crotch. One touch and the woman had him as hard as a pole. He couldn’t wait to get this dinner over with and get back to their room. Leaning over, he whispered in her ear, "I hope you haven’t forgotten what's for dessert?"

  Blushing slightly, she replied sweetly, "I don't know about you, but I'm hoping for chocolate fondue." She bit her bottom lip.

  Tariq laughed out loud and then dropped a small kiss on her earlobe, forgetting that they had an audience.

  "Oh, how sweet," murmured Amira in a dry tone. Then she nudged Hassan.

  Hassan coughed and looked up at Tariq. "I was going over the schedule with father this afternoon on the movement of oil from Yemen into Africa next week, and I noted that you’d changed some of the dates around. Why is that?"